19" LCD Monitors Roundup. Part VII.. Page 16

We continue our roundups of 19" LCD monitors with a native resolution of 1280x1024 pixels and an aspect ratio of 5:4. Although such products have been relegated to the bottom market segment, new models are still being released on a regular basis. Today we will introduce to you 12 new models from Acer, BenQ, LG, NEC, Sony and Samsung.

The gamma curves look good at the default settings, but the gamma value is somewhat too high and the image looks a little whitish. The initial 10% stretch of the blue curve coincides with the X-axis which means that blue tones are displayed the same as black. This is not a big problem for typical applications, though. Without special instruments you will only spot it if you know what and where to look for.

The curves retain their shapes at the reduced contrast, but their leftmost sections become horizontal at very low values of contrast, making dark halftones indistinguishable from black.

The color temperature modes are set up sufficiently well. The color temperature dispersion is within 500K in most of the modes. This makes up for the fact that the temperatures of white in the cold modes are somewhat lower than they should be.

We’ve got a standard color gamut here: a triangle with an extended green area and a displaced red point as compared with the sRGB space.

The response time diagram reminds you that this monitor lacks RTC technology: an average speed of 12.4 milliseconds and a maximum of 22 milliseconds. These are normal numbers for a RTC-less TN matrix, but RTC monitors are much, much faster, so the LCD195VXM+ cannot be regarded as a fast monitor.

The monitor’s max brightness is normal for its matrix type while the contras ratio is good, never dropping below 250:1.

I’d call the NEC MultiSync LCD195VXM+ a good monitor for office work if it were not for its price, comparable to monitors based on RTC-enabled TN matrixes. Having a high response time and typically narrow viewing angles of a TN matrix, this monitor offers an accurate setup of the color temperature modes and gamma curves. Perhaps its pros outweigh its cons in your eyes?